Happy Hour: Luca Mano Freddo

Elena North-Kelly

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Gabe and Katherine Thompson’s intimate restaurants offer discerning New York City diners soulful Italian cuisine with a modern spin. For this week's Happy Hour column, we tapped their talented partner and beverage director, Joe Campanale, for one of his innovative cocktail recipes. This light, herbaceous libation shines with its bright notes from fresh mint, the refreshing flavor of muddled cucumbers, and the warm, slightly spicy complexity from Velvet Falernum, a sugarcane-derived syrup that contains hints of almond, ginger, cloves, and lime. The drink is featured in the trio's gorgeous new cookbook, Downtown Italian. But don't fret if you can't get your hands on a copy in time to mix this up for yourself tonight—we've got the recipe right here.

Elena North-Kelly is senior editor at the James Beard Foundation. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.